Hip-hop artist and environmentalist Chuteescott Martinez uses rap to spread his message.

A call to protect the planet.

We used to get lost up in the mountains, me and my friends.

We're walking in a park at the foothills of the Rockies.

Here, the wildfire smoke that taints the air is one more We're walking in a park at the foothills of the Rockies.

Here, the wildfire smoke that taints the air is one more urgent prompt for the 18-year-old's most audacious effort yet.

Addressing a climate crisis is one of the most important things we have to do.

And you're trying to do that in federal court.

Yeah, that's true.

Chutis-Cott-Martinez is one of 21 young people suing the federal government to take action on climate change, a legal long shot.

Filed during the Obama administration, the suit, sponsored by our children's trust, is scheduled

to go to trial next month in federal court, having survived multiple legal challenges.

From Boulder, Colorado, I'm Ann Thompson, and this is NBC on Earth.

So Shutazkat, first of all, what does Shutazkat mean?

My father is indigenous Mexican.

Our ancestry is the Mishika people of Mexico City.

And in our language, Shutetskat means like turquoise mirror,

representation of the reflection of the sky on the ocean.

Do you see yourself as a reflection of the sky in the ocean?

Definitely.

It's really interesting how when we're born as

children are the elders of our community, they look at the placement of the stars and the moon in the

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